A Study of Individual differences on Dream Recall: Influence of stressful life events and big five personality traits on dream recall frequency

Stressors and personality traits interact to influence how often university students recall dreams and the emotions associated with those dreams. Stressors increase recall of sad, anxious, and unpleasant dreams. Neuroticism is linked to more frequent recall of sad, anxious, strange, and unpleasant dreams and less recall of pleasant dreams. Extraversion is associated with fewer nightmares and more pleasant dream recall. Agreeableness correlates with fewer nightmares but more unpleasant dream recall. The authors suggest that mental support tailored to personality traits may help prevent harmful aftereffects of negative dream recall.

Study at a glance

Abstract

This study investigated the effects of stressors for university students and their big five personality traits on dream recall frequency classified by dream emotion. The following results were obtained: i) stressors and Neuroticism had an interactive effect on dream recall frequency. ii) Stressors had main effects on sad, anxious, and unpleasant dream recall frequency. iii) Extroversion was negatively correlated with nightmare recall frequency and positively correlated with pleasant dream recall frequency. iv) Neuroticism was negatively correlated with pleasant dream recall frequency and positively with sad, anxious, strange, and unpleasant dream recall frequency. v) Agreeableness was negatively correlated with nightmare recall frequency and positively with unpleasant dream recall frequency. These results showed that stressors related to mainly negative dream recall and emotions of recalled dreams varied by the dimensions of big five. The findings implicate that mental support for enhancing stress-coping ac-cording personality traits can be effective to prevent harmful effects after awakening from negative dream recall.